The 10 megawatt power plant of Al-Ghadir Dam in Saveh County, Markazi Province, will resume work next week after nine years, operation manager of the dam said.
“Unfortunately, due to the steep decline in water levels in the dam in the past years, it was not possible to generate electricity in the hydroelectric power plant,” IRNA quoted Jalal Shahrokh as saying.
Saveh is 100 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Located in the dry arid regions with below minimum precipitation, Markazi Province, like many other parts of the country, has struggled with severe drought and water deficits for years.
However, due to the favorable conditions in the current water year over 99% of the dam capacity is now full.
Al-Ghadir Dam, built in 1993, has a storage capacity of 278 million cube meters of water.
Good rains since last September were unprecedented in almost half a century and raised the water level in many dams.
There are two power plants adjacent to the dam; one has a production capacity of 10 megawatts and another 5 MW .
Shahrokh noted that the 5 MW power plant started operation earlier this year.
“With the end of maintenance programs in the coming days, power produced from the 10 MW plant will be injected into the national power grid,” the manager said.
Together, both power plants can generate 36 million kilowatt hours of electricity per annum.
Al-Ghadir Dam was supposed to supply water for 23,000 hectares of farmlands, but with water shortage in Saveh, a portion of its water was used to supply drinking water for 300,000 people.
Saveh is a major producer of wheat and cotton. It also is well-known for its pomegranates and melons. Kaveh Industrial City, the largest industrial city in Iran, is located there.
